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The Brahmanas are commentaries on the Vedas and form part of the Shruti literature. They are concerned with the detail of the proper performance of rituals. Inthe Rigveda, Shakala Shakha: Aitareya Brahmana Verse 1 declares: agnir vai devanam ava mo vi??u? paramus, tadantare?a sarva anya devata - Agni is the lowest oryoungest god and Vishnu is the greatest and the highest God.

The Brahmanas assert the supremacy of Lord Vishnu, addressing him as "Gajapati",the one whom all sacrifices are meant to please. Lord Vishnu accepts all sacrifices to the demigods and allots the respective fruits to the performer In one incident, a demonic person performs a sacrifice by abducting the Rishis (sages), who meditate by constantly chanting God's name. The sacrifice is meant to destroyIndra. But the rishis, who worship Indra as a demigod, alter one pronunciationof the Veda Mantra, reversing the purpose of the sacrifice. When the fruit of the sacrifice is given and the demon is on the verge of dying, he calls to Vishnu,whom he addresses as Supreme Godhead and "the father of all living entities including himself".

Aitareya Brahmana 1:1:1 mentions Vishnu as the Supreme God. But in the Vaishnavacanon, in different ages, with Vishnu in different avatars, his relationship with the asuras or demons, was always adversarial. The asuras always caused harm,while the sages and devas or celestial beings, did penance and called to Vishnufor protection. Vishnu always obliged by taking an avatar to vanquish the asuras. In the Vaishnava canon, Vishnu never gave or granted any boons to the asuras,distinguishing him from the gods Shiva and Brahma, who did. He is the only God c

alled upon to save good beings by defeating or killing the asuras.[20]

Sayana writes that in Aitareya Brahmana 1:1:1 the declaration agnir vai devanamava mo vi??u? paramus,tadantare?a sarva anya devata does not indicate any hierarchy among gods. Even in Rigveda Samhita, avama and parama are not applied to denote rank and dignity, but only to mark place and locality.

In Rigveda 1:108:9,: yadindraghni avamasya? p?thivya? madhyamasya? paramasyamutastha? | i.e., in the lowest place, the middle (place), and the highest (place).Agni, the fire, has, among the gods, the lowest place; for he resides with manon the earth; while the other gods are either in the air, or in the sky. Vishnuoccupies the highest place. The words avama and parama are understood as 'First'and 'Last' respectively. To support this claim, Sayana adduces the mantra (1,4.

As'val. Sr. S. 4, 2), agnir mukham prathamo devathanam samathanam uttamo vishnur asit, i.e., Agni was the first of the deities assembled, (and) Vishnu the last.

In the Kausitaki Brahmana (7.1) Agni is called Aaradhya (instead of avama), andVisnu parardha(instead of parama),i.e., belonging to the lower and higher halves(or forming the lower and higher halves).[27] The Vishnu Purana gives tremendous importance to the worship of Vishnu and mentions that sacrifices are to beginonly with both the lighting of fire or 'Agni', pouring of sacrificial offeringsto Vishnu in 'Agni' so that those offerings reach and are accepted by Vishnu. Worship of Vishnu through Yajnas (or Homams) and other rituals, will not achieve the desired result if Agni's role is neglected.[20]

Muller says "Although the gods are sometimes distinctly invoked as the great andthe small, the young and the old (Rig veda 1:27:13), this is only an attempt tofind the most comprehensive expression for the divine powers, and nowhere is any of the gods represented as the subordinate to others. It would be easy to find, in the numerous hymns of the Veda, passages in which almost every single god is represented as supreme and absolute."[28]

However this notion is not completely correct as per the following verses, whichshows Rigveda describe one or more gods as subject to other god(s).

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Him whose high law not Varuna nor Indra, not Mitra, Aryaman, nor Rudra breaketh,Nor evil-hearted fiends, here for my welfare him I invoke, God Savitar, with worship. (Rigveda 2.038.09)[29][30]

I invite to this place, with reverential salutations, for my good, that divine Savita, whose functions neither Indra, nor Varun.a, nor Mitra nor Aryaman nor Rudra nor the enemies (of the gods), impede. (Rigveda 2.038.09)[31][32]

Smriti[edit]Vishnu Smriti[edit]

Vishnu and Lakshmi riding on Vishnu's Vahana Garuda Painting from Rajasthan, Bundi, c. 1730 (in Los Angeles County Museum of Art )The Vishnu Sm?ti, is one of the later books of the Dharmashastra tradition of Hinduism and the only one that focuses on the bhakti tradition and the required daily puja to Vishnu, rather than the means of knowing dharma. It is also known for its handling of the controversial subject of the practice of sati (self-immolation of a widow on her husband's funeral pyre).[33] The text was composed by anindividual or group. The author(s) created a collection of the commonly known legal maxims that were attributed to Vishnu into one book, as Indian oral culturebegan to be recorded more formally.[34]

Bhagavata Purana[edit]Vishnu is the only Bhagavan as declared in the Bhagavata 1:2:11 in the verse: va

danti tat tattva-vidas tattvam yaj jnanam advayam brahmeti paramatmeti bhagavaniti sabdyate, translated as "Learned transcendentalists who know the Absolute Truth call this non-dual substance as Brahman, Paramatma and Bhagavan."[35]

Vishnu Purana[edit]In the Vishnu Purana (6:5:79) the personality named Parashara Rishi defines sixbhagas:

aisvaryasya samagrasya viryasya yasasa? sriya?jana-vairagyayos caiva ?anna? bhaga iti?ganaJiva Gosvami explains the verse in Gopala Champu (Purva 15:73) and Bhagavata Sandarbha 46:10:

jana-sakti-balaisvarya-virya-tejam.sy ase?ata?bhagavac-chabda-vacyani vina heyair gu?adibhi?"The substantives of the word bhagavat (bhagavat-sabda-vacyani) are unlimited (ase?ata?) knowledge (jana), energies (sakti), strength (bala), opulence (aisvarya),heroism (virya), splendor (tejas), without (vina) objectionable (heyair) qualities (gu?adibhi?)."Sangam literature[edit]Main article: Thirumal

The front-wide of the Ananthapadmanabhaswamy Temple, which is a Lord Vishnu Temple, depicting Him in His Universal "Padmanabha" form, and is considered the wealthiest Temple in the world, with assets estimated potentially to be in terms oftrillions of dollars.

The Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Vishnu located inSrirangam, Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu, India. Srirangam temple is often listed as the largest functioning Hindu temple in the world, the still larger Angkor Watbeing the largest existing temple.[36][37] The temple occupies an area of 156 acres (631,000 m) with a perimeter of 4,116m (10,710 feet) making it the largest temple in India and one of the largest religious complexes in the world.[38]Tamil Sangam literature (300BCE to 500CE) mentions mAyOn, or the dark one, as the supreme deity who creates, sustains and destroys the universe. Paripadal 3 describes the glory of Thirumal in the most superlative terms.

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Paripadal(3)by kaduvan iLaveyinanAr:

"thIyinuL theRal nI poovinuL naaRRa nI kallinuL maNiyu nI sollinuL vaaymai aRaththinuL anbu nI maRaththinuL mainthu nI vEthaththu maRai nI boothaththu madhalu nI vencudar oLiyu nI thingaLuL aLiyu nI anaiththu nI anaiththinut poruLu nI"

The last line states that Lord Vishnu is the supreme deity who is the inner controller (Antaryamin) of the entire universe. This is one of the Lord's glories, which is first mentioned in Vedas and later propounded by Alwars in Prabhandams and Sri Vaishnavaite Acharyas in various commentaries

The Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple and Vishnu, Lakshmi is mentioned in Tamil works of literature of the Sangam era, including the epic Silapadikaram (book 11, lines3540):

ayiram viritte?u talaiyu?ai arunti?a?

paya? pa??ip palarto?u tetta viritiraik kaviri viya?peru turuttit tiruvamar marpa? ki?anta va??amum

On a magnificent cot having a thousand heads spread out, worshipped and praisedby many, in an islet surrounded by Kaveri with bellowing waves, is the lying posture of the one who has Lakshmi sitting in his chest

Theological attributes[edit]Main article: VaishnavismThe actual number of Vishnu's auspicious qualities is countless, although his six most-important "divine glories" are:

Jnana (Omniscience); defined as the power to know about all beings simultaneously;Aishvarya (Sovereignty), derived from the word Ishvara which means unchallengedrule over all;Shakti (Power or Energy), the capacity to make the impossible possible;Bala (Strength), the capacity to support everything by will and without any fatigue;

Virya (Vigour), the power to retain immateriality as the Supreme Spirit or Beingin spite of being the material cause of mutable creations;Tejas (Splendor), which expresses self-sufficiency and the capacity to overpowereverything by spiritual effulgence.[39]Other important qualities attributed to Vishnu are Gambhirya (inestimatable grandeur), Audarya (generosity), and Karunya (compassion). Natya Shastra lists Vishnu as the presiding deity of the S?ngara rasa.

The Rigveda says: Vishnu can travel in three strides. The first stride is the Earth. The second stride is the visible sky. The third stride cannot be seen by men and is the heaven where the gods and the righteous dead live. (This feature ofthree strides also appears in the story of his avatar Vamana/Trivikrama.) The Sanskrit for "to stride" is the root kram; its reduplicated perfect is chakram (g

una grade) or chakra (zero-grade), and in the Rigveda he is called by epithets such as vi-chakra-manas = "he who has made 3 strides". The Sanskrit word chakra also means "wheel". That may have suggested the idea of Vishnu carrying a chakra.

Vishnu (Beikthano in Burmese) on his mount, the garuda, in the traditional Burmese depiction.Five forms[edit]See also PacaratraIn Shree Vaishnavism, another school dating from around the 10th century AD, Vis

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hnu assumes five forms:

In the Para Form, Para is the highest form of Vishnu found only in Sri Vaikuntaalso called Moksha, along with his consort Lakshmi, (and Bhumi Devi and Nila devi, avatars of Lakshmi) and surrounded by liberated souls like Ananta, Garuda, and a host of Muktas (liberated souls).In the Vyuha form, Vishnu assumes four forms, which exercise different cosmic functions and controls activities of living beings.In the Vibhava form, Vishnu assumes various manifestations, called Vibhavas, more popularly known as Avataras from time to time, to protect the virtuous, punishevil-doers and re-establish righteousness.In the Antaryami; "Dwelling within" or "Suksma Vasudeva" form, Vishnu exists within the souls of all living beings and in every substance.[40]In the Arcavatara or Image manifestation, Vishnu is visible and therefore easilyapproachable by devotees since Para, Vyuha, Vibhava and Antaryami forms can only be imagined or meditated upon because they are beyond our reach. Such images can beRevealed by Vishnu, for example, a self-manifested (Swayambhu) icon (murti), e.g. The Mahavishnu Temple at Tirunelli, The Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple at Srirangam, The Tirumala Venkateshwara Temple, etc.; orInstalled by Devas or celestial beings such as such as Guruvayur Temple installed by Vayu; orInstalled by humans, and consecrated according to Vaishnava Agama shastras or scriptures such as Lord Jagannatha of Jagannath Temple (Puri) at Puri.[41]

Relations with deities[edit]Shiva[edit]The three gods of the Trimurti clan are inseparable and in harmony in view of their common vision and universal good. They are perfectly ideal in all respects.

Both Asuras and Devas played supportive roles in this story by keeping company with Vishnu in his incarnated forms. Hanuman is a vanara who is completely dedicated to Rama. He gives Vishnu company and obeys his command, while playing an important part in Rama's life. He is regarded in Vaishnava canon because it is through blessings that Hanuman is born. Thus, Hanuman, Vishnu's constant companion,with his idol appearing temples of Rama, Krishna and Narasimha, i.e. all of Vishnu's avatars, is considered by Vaishnavas.[42]

Syncretic forces produced stories in which the two deities were shown in cooperative relationships and combined forms. Harihara is the name of a combined deityform of both Vishnu (Hari) and Shiva (Hara).[43] This dual form, which is also called Harirudra, is mentioned in the Mahabharata.[44]